Well a lot has happened in the last two months since I last updated my blog.
Time home:
I was able to come home for a little over six weeks which was so wonderful and needed. to much can beat coming off the plane to a large handmade poster held by my parents, nieces and nephew, and best friend. All of my family was home including my sister and her family from England and extended family from Wisconsin. It was such a blessing to have all of us together and in the same place. I think that this was one of my most fun summers ever. I was able to spend time with family, friends, supporters, the kids I nanny for, and do all the things that make northern Michigan so wonderful (and eat good food!).
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| I even got to go on the boys fishing trip :O |
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| Me and Ember-Auntie Niece Hot Chocolate Date at local coffee shop |
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| Isaac and I out for ice cream (which happened almost daily) |
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| The nieces and I (Siri and Ember) |
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| Mom and I as we took the boat to the restaurant for dinner days before I left |
I was able to go backpacking in Canada at Lake Superior Provincial Park with some amazing friends. I got to see my long-time friend, John, marry the beautiful Heather in Portland on the way home. I was able to attend a family reunion in Door County, Wisconsin. The list goes on and on.
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| John's weddings- my two best friends from my study abroad in Spain-Stephen and John |
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| Backpacking in Canada |
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| Backpacking |
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| The whole backpacking crew |
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| My boys I nanny for-all in a days work-spies looking for Waldo |
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| Bowling with Ella (the little girl I nanny for) |
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| Spending time with my best friend, Kaylee |
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| Nannies and kids rafting adventure |
I was also able to spend a lot of time processing my time here in Samoa and making a plan for the next leg of my time here.
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| Hanging with some of the cousins on our family reunion |
God moments on the way home:
In the Samoan airport I met a Fijian professional golfer (who I later learned was Vijay Singh one of the best golfers in the world) who bought me hot chocolate and introduced me to another Fijian by the name of Bana (Barnabas) who played rugby back in the day with one of my closest friends here in Samoa. When we arrived in Fiji, Bana drove me around to help find me a hotel and get me local rates and paid for my taxi and a coke at the hotel where we proceeded to sit and chat about God. The next day, I splurged on a tour around Nadi and met some great people who were so kind and bought me fruit and shared goodies from NZ. I had a wonderful time touring the botanical gardens, trying out a mud bath in the hot springs, and touring a Buddhist temple. Then, because I had to check out of my hotel that morning, one of the ladies invited me to come hang out with her at her hotel for the afternoon and use her shower (as I was still covered in mud) and free transport to the airport.
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| At the Buddhist Temple |
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| Trying cava at the market |
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| Our tour guide and I at the botanical gardens |
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| Mud baths in Fiji |
That night on the plane everyone was sleeping and I was gazing out the window at all the stars having some time talking with God. I told Him it would be really amazing to see a shooting star go past (up to that point there hadn’t been any). Within the next five minutes, three shooting stars went by! It was incredible!
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| Sunrise out the plane window-morning after shooting stars |
Back in Samoa:
It is good to be back in Samoa. I arrived just before the end of the school day so I was instantly mobbed by kids. I had at least three kids constantly attached to me for the next few days. A lot happened while I was gone. They had a Samoan Culture Day which was a huge success and loved by students, parents, and base staff. And then they took a two week holiday.
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| Samoan Culture Day |
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During this time, I had a complete staff turn over. Four of my staff left (one to go home and three to do a School of Frontier Missions being run on the base). During the next few weeks, there were apparently many different hands pitching in to help. We had four new staff to replace those who left. In the last week, three of our teachers have left. We are now down to four teachers- My co-leader, John, and I as well as two other boys. Last Thursday, one of my teachers was asked by the base
to step down from all leadership roles as he made some very poor
decisions. Also this past weekend, two others left the base. We are now down two/three teachers (again). Leaving us with
myself and three other teachers. So after just getting in a rhythm and
flow, we are having to redo our schedule again. This is very frustrating
and disheartening. However, the boys that are left have really risen to the occasion. It has been going quite smoothly and could have been a
nightmare. Thank you, God!
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| Failauga, one of our new teachers |
Our two new teachers are very young. They both just finished their DTS at the end of July. There is a large lack of maturity, but they are so far really rising to the challenge. I believe that the two of them are very gifted teachers and I think will be a great asset to the school. They have quite a bit of potential and so far have been willing to learn. After the three other staff members left, they really stepped up and took initiative. They have been doing a fabulous job the last three days.
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| The Level 3 girls practicing a dance they choreographed |
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| Tasi and I |
There were also several students who left for various reasons
(two moved, four have to help out on their family’s plantation, etc.).
We now have ten new students to replace them. This past week, we had a
week off from school for the annual Teuila Festival. We spent the time
having Teaching Workshops- refocussing on the vision and purpose of the
Learning Center, going over rules and expectations for the students and
staff, re-arranging the schedule, shuffling classrooms, students, and
teachers, and giving them tips for classroom/behavior management and
teaching tips.
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| Level 1 Class |
I have felt like God is saying not to look at the failings but at the potential of each person and see them as He sees them. With another complete set of teachers leaving, it again calls into question how to make the school sustainable. God continues to promise that there is a future for this school and that He is at work behind the scenes. I found out this week that it is pretty certain that there will be a team
coming from Kona, Hawaii early next year to do actual training with our
teachers which will give them a teaching certificate (not degree). This
will be such a blessing! Please continue to pray though that we get
teachers who are committed and will stay for the long haul (or even a
school year!).
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| The Learning Center! |
We have held the verse Philippians 1:9 very closely to our hearts. ”It is my desire for each one of you, that the realization of love's completeness in you will increasingly burst through all boundaries, and that every sphere of your relationship with others will be greatly impacted by your intimate acquaintance with love". Love is the key. These kids come from hard places. Who knows what they have gone through in the past or everyday at home. Some may be physically, emotionally, verbally or sexually abused. Some may not have two parents. We want to love on them with God’s love and give them a safe place to discover their worth and identity and who God is. The school is about THEM. Not a ministry, not YWAM, not to make ourselves look good, but about the kids.
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| Our new magnifying glasses! |
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We added a new class (so we now have five). There are three girls in the class who are very intelligent and speak fairly good English. I spent a few days painting a new chalkboard and sewing a divider curtain to hang in the fale. I am lead teaching our highest class. I teach English to the highest three classes and Science and Social Studies to the top class. We had a great day and a lot of fun. It is going to be a challenge for all of us as I attempt to simplify Scientific things for their minimal English. Now that the other teachers have left, we have had to juggle things around a bit so I have been teaching a little bit of everything everywhere, but trying to maintain the five classes. We were blessed by a school in New Zealand with pencil cases handmade by their students for each of our students, a printer/scanner, and basic science materials. I am also picking up a container this week from another man in New Zealand with books and soccer cleats for the kids. God is definitely blessings us beyond ways we could ever imagine.
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Me Personally:
It has been hard being back. There have been moments of intense frustration and loneliness. Moments of why did I come back? and moments of joy as I was mobbed by the kids or invited home with one of the girls for a big holiday celebration. I am living in one of the fales now which is both a blessing and a curse. It provides great airflow, but loads of noise as it is in the path to and from the bathrooms and next to the piggery (thankfully the wind is always blowing the opposite direction). Still adjusting to new roommates (sadly Tiffany moved back into her parents’ fale when I left-still working on persuading her to move down). The food has been pretty awful as well-canned sardines numerous times a week. God has been providing in so many ways though. I was able to go to the beach last weekend. I also had the opportunity to go this weekend for two days to the beautiful island of Savaii with two German guys that I met. We had a blast swimming in waterfalls, playing in the ocean blowholes, watching the sunset over the ocean at the farthest western point of Samoa, sleeping in open fales on the beach, and so much more.
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| Blowholes in Savaii |
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| Swimming in the waterfalls |
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| Hiking to the waterfalls |
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| Swimming in the pools under the waterfalls |
'Prayer Requests:
-TEACHERS! We need committed teachers- ones who have a heart and passion for these kids and for this school.
-We are still waiting to hear if we will get a free bus. Keep praying our bus in! We need it. We have had two accidents in the last few weeks with kids getting hurt while climbing in and out of our truck.And now the truck is broken and we have to take all of the kids in shifts in the back of a pickup truck.
-I also feel like there is a spirit of apathy and lethargy over the base. It feels like people are just going through the motions and not really meaning it. Pray for a spirit of revival to flood our base. Also that I would not sink into it as well. That people wouldn’t get so focussed on the practical that they forget the importance of the spiritual and spending time with God.
-For me in every way :) encouragement, against loneliness and frustration, wisdom and patience
