3rd quarter flew by and I wanted to send you some photos (and a few captions) so you could see just what's going on at Faith Academy. One thing I noticed this school year is that I am taking less and less photos in the classroom. This is my third year teaching the same class, so it's not all new and fancy anymore. Nonetheless, those classroom experiences are where the real relationships grow and are growing. Please keep that in your prayers as I get to do life daily with about 65 students.
One cool thing about living in SE Asia is the friends we make that go on to work in other Asian countries. We met a friend who was volunteering with an organization here and did her student teaching with them. She went home, got married and moved to China to teach as missionaries with her and her husband (and baby!). It's so cool to hear about the work God is doing in other countries around us. Pray for the Ball's and their ministry in China.
I am taking master's classes through Dallas Theological Seminary and I end up doing a good bit of homework usually. Recently, that homework load has been increasing. For one 40 minute period, I supervise some students who are in the weight room. I usually end up reading homework and watching PE classes going on. It's a crazy way to study, that's for sure! So loud!
If you follow me on Facebook at all, you know I have a TA because she plays the leading role in a lot of videos. She's crazy silly and lots of fun. In this class, she was excited because she got a whistle to help me ref American Football. Pray for her as she is finishing up her senior year and transitioning to John Brown University in the US next year. Her name is Karis.
I have never been a big play person, but Faith Academy is a play atmosphere as we have two to three school plays a year. I have started to really enjoy them. Wicked cam to Manila and was so so cheap compared to the rest of the world. I took the chance to see it and at intermission I said, "If they said, sorry this is the end because of technical difficulties, it would have been worth every penny already." So so good.
I often volunteer to chaperone school dances/banquets because you get to go for free:) In that, I get to enjoy hanging out with students in a different atmosphere. This was our annual Sadies dance. It was a western themed and let's just say, I was the only person in the room with actual cowboy boots on.
Every year, the elementary school has a parade of nations during their international week. They spend a week learning about and celebrating the diversity of cultures. They finish off the week by dressing up as their country or representing another country of their choice. The picture from this are always a lot of fun. Yeah Asia!
While fundraising for our rugby trip, we held a touch rugby clinic. The hope was also to promote future touch rugby love. I helped with the elementary clinic and we had a blast. These stuck it out in the heat and learned a ton about the games. I reffed a game at the end against the Peaceful Shark Warriors and the Harry Potters. You can tell the kids named their teams. Haha.
One of my absolute favorite things at Faith Academy is this little boy. His parents are the dorm parents for the girls' dorm where I spend so much time. He is three and we are best of friends. His name is JJ. I love when he drops by while I'm teaching. This particular day, he brought me a flower for my hair and gave me a big hug. My TA just so happened to take a picture of it. So cute.
One fun thing Faith does to promote community is something we call, Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner. You sign up and they get random groups of staff together for dinner. the idea is that we span different departments and get to know someone new. I was hosted by a Korean couple and they were so incredibly hospitable. We taught my friend Trevor (taking the picture) how to use chopsticks and about Kimchi. This symbol we are doing with our hands is a heart with your fingers. It's very popular with the kids. Who knew???
I had the privilege of being able to help chaperone the senior trip this year. This class is very special to me and I had a blast with them. We hung out, hiked up to a waterfall, tried surfing, ate a ton, and got some sun. This is not a picture of the whole class, but maybe 50-60%. Pray for these students as they transition into what's next in their lives. So many are headed to other cultures to do university, work, or military.
This is called a Boodle Fight. This is a popular Filipino dinner style. The table is covered in bamboo leaves and the food is laid out on the leaves. You eat with your hands and there is no throwing of food:) The place we stayed prepared this for us and what fun we had. These kids are an absolute blessing.
Our rugby team had a dream to play in rugby in Australia (the land of touch rugby) and that dream became a reality. We found dirt cheap tickets and fund-raised like crazy. The school provides a stipend for coaches when they travel with their teams, so I went for even less. We got to go on a trip of a life time and I basically paid $100. The Lord blesses us in might ways sometimes. This picture was at our awards ceremony for the season (which happened before Aus) where our kids put the coaches pictures on Australian images. So fun. We were so pumped to go.
Once we flew up to Sunshine Coast, we got to speak at two school chapels. This school is a Christian school in the sense that the church owns the school, but it has only been a part of the church for 8 years and only about 10% of the school's population are believers. We got to share about what we do in the Philippines and two students shared their experiences in the Philippines. So cool to hear the gospel shared in a place like that. We did get to share in another Christian school that was much more like Faith as far as amount of Christian students attending there.
Their final game on the first big day of playing was against a club team under the lights (Faith doesn't have lights, so that is fun for us). The club hosted us with BBQ after and the kids all sat around and got to know the other team. What a sweet time of connection it was for them. They played games, sang songs, and learned about each other's cultures. We were set to play some of these girls again the next day
As we come back, we are full speed ahead into 4th quarter. The pressure is on as the end of the year approaches rapidly. I snapped this shot in the halls today as some of my students are hard at work during study hall. It just so happens that they are studying a favorite book of mine, To Kill A Mockingbird.
The yearbook needs photos of the seniors in their cap and gown and so we got a preview of what we will get to see come June 2nd. For Faith Academy, the end of the year is the saddest and hardest time of the year. For us, this is our community and friends and our life. Because of the high turnover with field changes, furloughs, or people leaving the field, we lose a lot of students, friends, and coworkers at the end of the year. The last day of school is almost a day of grieving the community we are losing. We do enjoy summer and do enjoy coming back to the community that returns (including some who have been gone on a year long furlough), but it's a hard time. Pray for the goodbyes and the transitions, especially for our seniors. Their whole world is about to change. Pray for their faith to remain in college and to make it more of their own.