Marvellous March

March Madness 

Feels like I only just was writing about February fun and now we are halfway through March heading into Spring!

Though it is hard to think it is Spring already with our late winter snows hanging on.

Classrooms just before Spring Break become rather chaotic and I like to describe the children's movements to be rather maggoty: very squirmy and never ceasing in movement. So the last week before the break we try to fill with fun learning activities.

Celebrating Reading

This year our elementary have set a goal to read 2000 books! We hit our halfway mark this March and choose to celebrate by taking the kids skating! I have quite the group of brave kids, many trekking out on the ice for the first time.

 

 

 

Techmania

A new science museum has opened up in a nearby town and so we took the opportunity to take our elementary and middle school students to explore the world of science at Techmania. The exhibits included forensic science, physics of sound and motion, magnetism and light and colour. There was lots to explore and fun was had by all. Our students' particularly enjoyed the airport security section and burglar house where they could play detective and search for hidden objects with metal detectors and try to make it through a maze with laser beam sensors. It was a great time for our students to interact with those in the higher grades and grow together as a learning community.

 

 

Welcome Miss Reed

For the next 6 weeks grade 1 & 2 will be blessed with a student teacher: Miss Reed. Studying with Cairn University in Pennsylvania Miss R. will be with us for the month of April. 

And let there be singing and dancing!

PRAISE THE LORD!

Today our director went to the Ministry of Education to pick up our SIGNED application for recognition with the Czech Ministry of Education!
After previously being denied 5 times (or more, we started to lose count) there was great rejoicing amongst the CISP family!

The signed documents will be on their way to the mayor of Prague two in order to secure our bid for the  contract for the new building. Please continue to pray with us as the mayor and the Council of Prague 2 gather together to make their decision. That our bid will be met with favour and that we will be able to sign a contract for the new building.

Praise the Lord for his Mighty works so far!

Rejoice in the Lord Always, again I say Rejoice!

The Sink Saga

Sink Battles

Over the past two weeks it became evident that our kitchen sink had a clog and it became my mission to solve it! Growing up in a Mr. Fix-it-Yourself home (and calling someone in is a last resort) I was determined to fix the problem myself! Not to mention the fear of having to deal with a plumber that didn't speak my language was not an enticing alternative.

My biggest fear was taking something apart that I couldn't get back together so I started in stages.

Kelly Vs Kitchen Sink Round 1

I started by taking off the trap under our sink (the white part).
It was rather mucky and had quite a bit of grey gunk so I cleaned it out. Put it all back together; with NO leaks I might add. The water went down a little quicker at first so I felt rather pleased with my accomplishment. However, the next day the problem clearly had not been solved!


Kelly VS Kitchen Sink Round 2

Reading up on home remedies we attempted a few. Vinegar, boiling hot water, and even coca cola, to no avail!




Kelly VS Kitchen Sink Round 3

As my frustration with the problem increased so did my bravery in taking things apart. With the assistance of Skype I had my Mr. Fix-it Dad pay a house call and with his direction I managed to dismantle all the piping under my sink, up to the fitting that went into the wall. After flushing the whole thing out and determining that there was no clog in the pipes under the sink the diagnosis was that the problem was in the pipes in the wall!
SIGH! It seemed that maybe having to get a plumber was going to be inevitable.
Our biggest fears being that our pipes are covered with concrete and what an ordeal it would be to get at them. Not to mention the hassle it would be to get someone to come at a time when one of us could be at home!

Kelly Vs Kitchen Sink Round 4

Last ditch effort my flatmate and I picked up Fredy - (no not a plumber) but rather a brand (loosely translated from Czech) of siphon cleaner. First I passed it by our Czech speaking friends to make sure that the chemical wouldn't eat through our pipes (since it depicted eating through everything else!) Then with thick plastic grocery bags wrapped around my arms (since we don't have rubber gloves, next time will put that on the list) I dumped a cap-full of chemical down the sink, let it sit and then followed it up with a litre of boiling water. I repeated this step 3 times. Followed by many prayers. Alas it all seemed for not and the fears of having to call a plumber loomed!

I resigned that night with a prayer: Lord, Creator of the universe, one who can move mountains, please can you help remove the clog in our drain too! Though my faith behind such prayers are never too strong. Why with all the things going on in the world would a clogged drain matter?

Yet, it matters to me, and my God cares about things that matter to me! So I shouldn't have been so surprised when I came home from work today, sent up a prayer Oh Lord please let it drain, turned on the tap and heard our sink burp and watch the water flow down freely!

Just another one of those reminders that even the little things matter to our Heavenly Father!

CISP Building Update

Adventures in Patience!

Many have been asking about how things are going with our application for recognition with the Czech Ministry of Education as well as our progress with getting a new building. Below is our latest school newsletter sharing the most recent developments in these areas. Thank for you many prayers, keep them coming! God is at work in mighty ways!

Keep praying with us...

Legerova 4, Praha 2

Thanks for your incredible response to our previous call to prayer. We had so many people around the world praying for the situation with our school. God is moving on our behalf. We need your prayers, but we also want you to rejoice with us in what God has been doing since we last wrote.

When we last wrote, we were seriously wondering if we would lose the building. What we thought was impossible, God made possible. We have heard back from the Ministry of Education that they are looking favourably on our request for recognition. The Prague 2 offices have extended our deadline, twice. We are negotiating on a contract in the midst of all of this, and the mayor's office is "sitting with their fingers crossed" (as close to prayer as we will probably get from their end) that it will all work out.

We have been waiting to send out an update regarding our possible new building.

Without going into all the minute details, we can say it has been an adventure of patience. The Prague 2 people have been good to work with, but gave us the requirement that we must be recognized by the Ministry of Education before they would let us have the building.

Many of you know that last year we were turned down by the ministry (as we were the other 3 previous times we applied) to our great disappointment. But the Lord is good, and this year seems to be proceeding well. The only problem is that it is going "at a snail's pace;" in other words, VERY SLOWLY!

Over the last few weeks, we have heard that we would get approval from the Ministry of Education, but that it would come "next week." That has been the story every week for three weeks!

Tuesday, Renata (CISP's Accounts and Contracts Manager) learned that the paperwork is still in the legal department of the Ministry of Education. And the reason for that is that the assistant to the head lawyer was sick last week. So the paperwork did not get signed last week. Then THIS week, the head lawyer himself is on holiday. That means no signature from him this week.

Lord willing, he will be in the office on Monday and sign the document. Then it gets passed back to the Minister's office for him to sign. But Renata learned that he only signs documents on Tuesday afternoons and Thursdays!

This all means the earliest the document will be signed for recognizing us by the Ministry of Education will be next Tuesday, 12 March.

And THEN the rada of Prague 2 will meet 19 March and approve the contract.

So please pray: 

• for good health and safety for the head lawyer;
• for good health and safety for the Minister of Education (and his assistant)!
• for them to sign the right documents this coming Monday and Tuesday, 11 and 12 March;
• for those documents to get to CISP safely;
• for good conversations between Renata and the Prague 2 lawyers as they finalize the contract;
• that we can actually sign the contract 19 or 20 of March.

Thank you for praying and rejoicing with us! 

February Fun

February Fun

It has been a very busy month so I thought I would do a quick run through of the happenings with photos :)

Dance-a-thon

This year our development team experimented with a creative fundraiser for the students to help raise money for a project for our new building. We hosted our first Dance-a-thon. A group of students, teachers, staff, and parents gathered together throughout the day from 9am to 9pm to dance. Students collected pledges and the result was a surprising success; raising close to $4 000!
Participating in a wide range of dance activities, students learned to square dance, swing, fox trot, and even do the sprinkler. There was a little fun with conga lines, limbo and the hokey-pokey. It was a great time of community, fellowship and fun. (The video is a little long but it was hard to fit 12 hours of footage into less than 5 minutes :)

Winter Banquet

February is also when we have our annual winter banquet. A time where the families of our middle school and high school gather together for a fancy dinner and a little fun. A great time to get dressed up and fellowship together as a school community.

100th Day of School!
 

  On February 19th we completed our 100th day of school. We celebrated together as an elementary with various activities including: writing a google, making collections of 100 things, illustrating what we will look like in 100 years and creating a crown depicting 100 things we have learned so far this school year. I love 100 day because it gives us all a sense of great accomplishment, reflecting on all the things we have learned and excited for all the things left to come!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Last weekend February 23rd we got a large dump of snow, as it snowed two days straight. For many places this would slow things down but not in the Czech Republic! It felt so much like being in Canada as many strapped on their cross country skis, hauled out their tobbagans and rolled out their snowmen. It was a wonderful Wintery weekend.

 

    

   

 
 

My homes side by side. This made me smile. Walked past a hotel building to see the Canadian flag flying next to the Czech flag. Just gave me that warm fuzzy feeling.

My first taste of trdelnik. A yummy treat sold namely at Christmas but can be found basically all year round in Old time square. Got it in my head that is was one of those things you had to indulge in while it was snowing and this was the first time it was snowing when I was near a vendor to buy one.  

 <-- Typical tourist shots but once again don't have one of the famous astronomical clock or Prague castle in the winter.

 My  heart goes out to many of the beggars in the streets during this time of year as it gets to be quite cold and freezing to death is an unfortunate reality. 

 On Sunday I ventured out into the city with my Czech friend Aneta. I met her in Vernon, while she was working at a local farm, just before I was heading to Prague. We get together from time to time so she can practise her English and I can take a stab at my non-existent Czech.


I had a great time being a picture happy tourist. Every time I walk the bridge I see something new and I don't think I will ever tire of it.

Hard to believe that March starts tomorrow! Time is racing by and it is all I can do to hang on tight and try to capture as many things as I can along the way.

Fighting the Battle

The Mighty Prayer Warrior

It is that time of year again when as a missionary you send out your letters updating what you are doing and giving the heads up of the upcoming need for financial support to carry you on in your ministry. I dread writing these letters because I feel so inadequate with the right words to express what needs I have and going beyond the if you feel lead please give.

I desire not to guilt trip my supporters with please give me money so I can help the children, or to make them feel guilty by not giving. I have received a couple letters lately apologising how they are unable to give but will still pray; almost as though their prayers are a consolation prize. Yet I wonder how much they realise their promises to support through prayer mean so much to me! The promise to pray goes far beyond anything I think we even realise. Now don't get me wrong I don't survive here on prayers alone, yet without those many prayer warriors I don't know what I would do. God hears the pleas of his people and he answers. I am so blessed by such a great team of prayer warriors who take the time and consideration to bring my needs and the needs of CISP to our heavenly Father who provides for his children.

Sometimes raising support can be intimidating, nerve-racking, and downright scary. However through it all I have learned to not be afraid to let God work through his people and give them the opportunity to give and share in this adventure with me. Through the prayer warriors' gifts of prayer they are touching the lives of many. Fighting this battle requires an army and I am blessed to have some of the strongest warriors on my side.



If you are wondering about ways you can support through prayer check out my prayer warrior corner.