August through to September

RECAP
I have realized that from the time I left Canada to now I have left some gaps in my blogging so I am going to do a quick recap of some of my summer events up until now.

    

July 13 - Sold my car. Goodbye Molly II

July 28 - Visit Dallas Barnhartvale Baptist Church and shared about my ministry with TeachBeyond and CISP and what the Renfrews would be doing when they came.



July 29 - Given the OK by my member care team that I could depart to the field - I was at 68% of my monthly support but including one time gifts I was good for the year so I prepared to leave, having faith that God would provide for my years to come.

August 6 - 7  Depart Canada and arrive in Prague - smooth flights and everything arrived

August 8 - 22 - Prep classroom - mop, clean, dust, gather furniture, sort boxes

 

  

 




August 9 - Got word that I gained a few new donors and was up to 83% PRAISE THE LORD
August  23 - Took a day off and had a final holiday before school (see previous post about holidaying)

August 26 - 30 - Staff training week - R&R arrived bringing with them 4 suitcases loaded down with needed supplies and helped to get my classroom into shape. Thank you to all who helped donate funds, supplies and prayed for this team; they were a HUGE blessing to me and our staff.

 

 

  

August 31- September 1   - Play tourist with R&R - Went to the zoo, explored and enjoyed Prague life
September 2 - School open house - Show off the school to the families

 

September 3 - Last minute prep
September 4 - First day of school!



Our first week and a half of school has been very busy, as we settle into new routines, adjust to a new building and a new group of students. I hope to post pictures of my kids very soon.

Praise God!

~ For my continued monthly support, currently at 83% 

~ My appointment at the Visa office went smoothly and I now have my VISA good until May 2015!

~ For safe arrival with all my luggage and the arrival of one of my flatmates

~ For a great class of students 4/5 are learning English

Please Pray!!

~ For our new flatmate as she strives to raise her needed support. She is currently now at 80% of her needed support and needs to raise at least another 10% before she can come to Prague. Please Pray for the Lord’s provision for Kate and that she will have all that she needs soon.

A little R&R

I was blessed immensely by the help, support and hard work of this small team. I am so thankful for parents who give of their time and resources and set aside their fears to come serve the Lord and help their daughter. They did everything from stamp, organize and label books to hanging poster board strips and building a sandbox. They really did get a little taste of what it is like to live and work in Prague. Whether it was trying to find washers that would fit the pins on a door or buy a monthly transit pass, they had their adventures learning how the Prague life works for a foreigner. They got pretty good at finding their way around and I was able to leave them to their own devices their second week here when they got to explore the country on their own.

 

Exploring Prague Castle

Exploring Český Krumlov and Karlštejn

Brunch at Radost

 
We got to meet up with our dear friend Aneta who worked at Davison's one summer
(affectionately known to some as Czech 1)



Back to School

This year brings me back to my first year teaching CISP. Once again I have a small class with only 5 students. However, these 5 all come from different countries and each speaks a different native language! They are from Brasil, South Korea, Holland, Italy and the USA. In January we are expecting a new family from Russia who will have a student in grade two bringing my numbers and nationalities to 6 :)

Although it is a challenge to teach such a diverse group of learners it is exciting to see them grow and develop their new language skills. People ask how do I do it? I have learned to be creative and sometimes that means having a class consisting of dramatic charades and pictionary!

It is the little things that bring you joy and some things extend beyond common words: hugs, smiles, and above all laughter. I think my moment of the week was when my little Italian, who has a very small vocabulary and is afraid to say anything, pulled out all my connect links during playtime and made a chain that stretched from one side of the classroom to the other. When she completed her little task she surveyed her handiwork and announced with great gusto TA-DAH! For one who barely spoke a word above a whisper all week this was a mighty accomplishment and made me laugh. Some sentiments extend through many language barriers.

Please continue to pray for this small group as they overcome fears of being in a new language and culture. Pray that the gospel will become planted in their hearts and that I will be able to teach with wisdom and understanding and meet the needs of these little ones.

Taking Vacation

On Holiday

When people asked how my vacation was the implication was that my holiday time is over now that I am back at school. I returned to Prague early in August so to have time to prepare my classroom for the upcoming school year and to fit in a little relax time before the year really begins. So as far as how my vacation was ... I believe it still is happening. Though I am at school almost everyday it still is a time to visit with friends and have a working vacation.
  Since my summer vacation time really isn't over yet my adventure buddy and I decided to take a day to go on another adventure. Destination this time was a small village near Prague that has one of the true fairytale like castles. So we ventured out to Karlštjn and enjoyed a lovely day of exploring a castle. No photos are allowed to be taken in the interior of the castle so enjoy the exterior shots.


When I picture a castle this is what I imagine: Round towers, tall buildings and huge walls. Karlštjn did not disappoint!

The road to the castle is lined with many small shops. Bohemian Crystal is one thing Czech Republic is known for and it was fun to window shop as we wandered up the street.

 

     

Left: entrance into the castle                                          Right: Bridge between the castle wings 

                   

             

 

        

 

We saw two bridal parties at the castle for a photo session. What a place to have your pictures taken (if you can get over having the tourists in the background of all your shots or taking your picture and posting it on their blog ;)

I will be getting a little R&R this next week as I will have the Robinsons and the Renfrews come to help get my classroom in order. My parents and two friends will be spending two weeks in Prague helping us with all the last minute preparations to get the building ready for the first day of school on September 4th.  When I was teaching in B.C. Mom always helped me with class set up and I have missed her helping hands. Excited to have them come and help. 

I will post pictures of the progression of my classroom soon; I am waiting until it is all finished to show you the whole process.

Call to Pray

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding..."

Our God is abundantly faithful. Funny how this sort of thing surprises me. Why should I be surprised that God would provide for me and allow me to continue his work in furthering the kingdom? How much I doubt and strive not to worry and through it all I say I trust ... but in the back of my mind there is this part of me that worries and doubts. Yet through it all God continues to teach me how amazing He is! I still have about $450 left to raise but know that the provision is there.

Now my next trust challenge is that God will provide for our 3rd flatmate. She is currently at 40% of her pledged support and our prayer is that she will have it all by next week! Yet another seemingly impossible task; knowing we serve a God of the impossible, we pray for the Lord's provision for Kate. She will be teaching our students PE and more than just a new flatmate we also NEED our PE teacher! Please pray for our new staff that are coming. We would love to have everyone here before school starts September 4th.

Preparing for my new class it is very similar to my first year demographics. 4 students 4 nationalities 4 languages all learning English. So our desperate prayer is for a full-time English Language Teacher! We have a part-time teacher but she will only be able to cover our upper-level students. Please pray that God will lead the right person to fulfil the position soon!

We also praise God for the addition of 8 new students this month bringing our numbers up to 73 students. Our prayer is for 20 more!

Please join us as we pray for all these things and see God's mighty hand at work!

Stepping Out in Faith

A little about my ministry in the Czech Republic.

*Note I have already returned to the Czech Republic but I still need to raise another $500 a month.
Please pray for the Lord's provision.