Sunday, May 25, 2008

Prayer for the week

Friends and Family,

One of our students flew out on Friday night, back to his home country of Bangledesh.
He was a tremendous young man with loads of analytical abilities and a heart to do what is right. He is of a different religious faith than the majority of our student body and this was a struggle. I think it was good for our Christian students to talk with someone who questioned them on their faith. This young man and I grew very close and it is sad to see that he is no longer with us. Please pray for him as he is back in his home country; that we in some way have shown him the love for Christ, and that in time he accepts God's Grace.

Pray also for Noelle and this week as we enter the final week of school before Finals. Noelle, being a middle school teacher actually doesn't give final exams, but this is still the last week of instruction as next week is party time and class bonding trips.

We look forward to coming back to the States on June 12th. We hope to see many of you.

In Him,

Sam for us

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Father/Son, Anniversary, Jr/Sr Banquet, Graduation

May 9-11
The Father/Son retreat in Port Dickson was fantastic. It was great to see 18 fathers and their son(s) play together, talk together, eat together, burp together and pray together. It was great for me to see wise men give advice and insight to their young sons.


May 15th
Noelle and I have now been married for three years. We had a very unique anniversary dinner in which we joined the rest of our staff at the Yaucht Club on Thursday May 15th. Our annual faculty dinner is where our departing staff are acknowledged for their year(s) of service in Singapore. It was also a great way for Noelle and I to spend our anniversary at a fantastic restaurant and with some of our closest friends.


May 17th
The Juniors and Seniors at our school have an annual banquet (like Prom). As the Student Council adviser I am in charge of making sure that the banquet goes according to plan. It was a little weak in attendance this year, but still enjoyable .
may 18th
In April of 2006 I started my Masters Degree program and in November I took the final exam. The program waited until yesterday to hold the commencement ceremony.
After last nights dinner and ceremony I have officially graduated from the SUNY Buffalo with a Masters in Educational Counseling.

Thanks for the prayer and support!!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Last Weekend and This Weekend

Last weekend we had a four day weekend because of Singapore Labor day. It came at a great time, Noelle and I are extremely busy and the break, in which we went to Tioman, a Malaysian Island, was wonderful. We went with a great group of friends and co-workers and stayed at a small little beach resort. We were able to snorkel and enjoy the tropics while trying to not worry about the crazy schedule we have for the next month.

Through the craziness of this next month we are trusting that the Lord will continue to give us peace and wisdom to handle major issues that are bound to arise. There have been some big changes at the workplace where Noelle is beginning to take over some of the Middle School Principal responsibilities in addition to teaching full time. I too am busy with different programs and activities. This weekend my hope is that Noelle will get done everything she needs too. I will be leaving on Friday with 39 fathers and sons in order to present at our first ever ICS father son retreat. This is a major issue on my heart. Here in Singapore many of our students rarely see their fathers. Thus this weekend will bring fathers and sons together.

The next weekend (May 16-18) is also a major weekend. Friday will be a senior talk (for those students transitioning away from Singapore), Saturday is the Young Life Garage Sale and the Junior Senior Banquet and Sunday I graduate from University of Buffalo with my Masters in Educational Counseling. This masters degree took 18 months to obtain and although it was a very strenuous process in which Noelle and I had to juggle work, social relationships and
other ministry opportunities.

Please pray that we will continue to make strong relationships with our neighbors, friends and students.