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It has been a whirl-wind (which is probably a fitting term after our bout with hurricane Irene) here at school for the past 3 weeks. We have been continually playing “catch-up” trying to get ahead in planning since the storm and clean-up have occupied so much of our time and energy.
However, we’re getting close, and yet it seems sometimes 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. Recently we found out that one of our teachers isn’t going to come for the year. He is our science teacher, which I believe personally works out nicely, because I love teaching science. Yet, the workload does begin to add up.
The students here are an interesting blend of kindness and sincerity mixed with youthful rebellion and a strive for independence, which often comes at the expense of good grades. More than I’ve ever seen before, there is a desperate need for Christian role-models and level of Biblical literacy that is strikingly missing from what I would expect in such a religious culture.
Emily is teaching a few classes, and it is her computer classes that she finds most challenging. But like all of the difficult ones, there is a equivalent reward in putting in your time; its like I tell my students, “no pain, no gain.”
Speaking of which, I also have the privilege to serve as the school’s Boys Basketball Coach. It has been great! We’re going to have a pretty small team, in both size and number, but they’re learning quickly the importance of “team” over “individual,” and that is a tough lesson for most of these young boys to learn (also more than half of them are just woefully out of shape).
Our position here at school doesn’t end when school ends however. I am also the Campus Coordinator, which means that after hours activities must be monitored and carefully planned and executed for we have many students that are boarding throughout the year. Emily is serving at the campus snack-shop and we have a great staff of leaders for the boys/girls dorm. Windermere is truly a school that depends on good team-work to run properly.
Please keep us in your prayers as we finally feel like we’re getting our feet-under-us after all the craziness with school starting and recovering from the hurricane. Everyday is a challenge, and its the exact kind of challenge for which we became missionaries. We believe it is foremost through our calling and partnership with our church to send and support us that we will find success, for there is no question that God has put us where He has for His purpose and glory.