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 25, 2008
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!!
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.
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.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Sunday Morning
Sometimes I think people just want a breakdown of what we are doing on a daily basis. So here is a brief breakdown on what we did this last weekend.
Friday
School from 7:30-4:30, I spoke in HS chapel about decision making and tied that into transition (our students deal with teachers leaving and friends leaving them every year, not like one or two but 5-10 people who are important in their life leave them every year). Noelle spent the day teaching and after school ran her tumbling program for 4th and 5th grade students. I took three students to the hollandaise club where our Jr. and Sr. class will be having their banquet (like prom but with less dancing and inclusive of dinner). Noelle and i met at the Phangs for dinner and discussion with some of our good friends who will be leaving for the states in June.
Saturday
Noelle and I watched some ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) videos with some fellow teachers. afterwards we spent a wonderful lunch with Sarah Stevens. Sarah is a fellow Nazarene. This is her first year in Singapore and has been a tremendous help to our high school program. Noelle and i then went to the Butrons house for dinner. Joyce and George are a wonderful couple who are influential in our lives. They have lived in Singapore and Papua New Guinea and give us great wisdom and insight.
Today
we will have church with 3-5 other families. this is a wonderful time for us to connect with fellow believers (some directors of Mission organizations). Noelle will go to Bhangra practice and I have a soccer game at 5PM with Agustin and one of my students, Jeddy.
Right now I am about to brew some coffee for my beautiful bride. (I am also watching some great Italian football (soccer).
In Him,
Friday
School from 7:30-4:30, I spoke in HS chapel about decision making and tied that into transition (our students deal with teachers leaving and friends leaving them every year, not like one or two but 5-10 people who are important in their life leave them every year). Noelle spent the day teaching and after school ran her tumbling program for 4th and 5th grade students. I took three students to the hollandaise club where our Jr. and Sr. class will be having their banquet (like prom but with less dancing and inclusive of dinner). Noelle and i met at the Phangs for dinner and discussion with some of our good friends who will be leaving for the states in June.
Saturday
Noelle and I watched some ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) videos with some fellow teachers. afterwards we spent a wonderful lunch with Sarah Stevens. Sarah is a fellow Nazarene. This is her first year in Singapore and has been a tremendous help to our high school program. Noelle and i then went to the Butrons house for dinner. Joyce and George are a wonderful couple who are influential in our lives. They have lived in Singapore and Papua New Guinea and give us great wisdom and insight.
Today
we will have church with 3-5 other families. this is a wonderful time for us to connect with fellow believers (some directors of Mission organizations). Noelle will go to Bhangra practice and I have a soccer game at 5PM with Agustin and one of my students, Jeddy.
Right now I am about to brew some coffee for my beautiful bride. (I am also watching some great Italian football (soccer).
In Him,
Sunday, April 13, 2008
New Phone Number
So, one of my friends gave me a MagicJack and I have just downloaded it onto my computer. It is pretty cool. It allows us to have a Vancouver number and make phone calls through our computer. WE can also receive phone calls too.
so call us at 360-718-6454
I hope the number works for awhile and I think it is free. :)
happy talking to us.
so call us at 360-718-6454
I hope the number works for awhile and I think it is free. :)
happy talking to us.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Pictures from China
Me attempting to do what Noelle does so well.
50 students trying to do what Noelle does so well.
Ben chillin with the Stone Forest police
Stone Forest dude and me chillin
The Men of the ICS English group
Chillin in the Stone Forest with my students
They gave me the instrument and I strummed my way into the hearts of the Chinese people
Why? Because I'm a rock star!
Can you guess what's missing? :(Noelle!
but i guess Ryan on my shoulder and Tim in pink are ok.
Dave and I in Kunming. It was great to see him and his family again.
Can you believe it? A Wal-Mart Super Center in China. It wasn't quite the same, but still a wonderful experience
Stevi and I at the Stone Forest, I equate this national bark to a grey stone version of Bryce Canyon (just smaller...a lot smaller)
I have no idea what that sign behind me says, I think someone told me though.
This is probably the ugliest picture of me ever. Saturday, March 29, 2008
Returned from China in one piece
Dear friends and family,
I just returned from Kunming, China, a city of 6 million people located at 6,000 ft above sea level and maintaining a climate similar (at least for the week I was in China) to Arequipa (at least for the 6 weeks I was in Peru). There were many times that i walked down the street thinking to myself, man some of these Chinese sure look like some of the indigenous Incas of the Andes mountains (maybe this land bridge idea is legit).
While in China, my group (8 students, 7 adults and one 2 year old) was able to teach english at the Yunnan University of Finance and Economics. We were scheduled to teach 6 classes a day for 4 days, but on the first day a mix up in the schedule only permitted us teaching 3 classes. We split into three groups, and each group presented 2 classes each day, except for monday when we each only taught 1 class. The classes were Volleyball, Bhangra (Indian Punjabi dancing) and Whist (a popular and fairly easy card game). Each class had anywhere from 40-50 students in it, which means we taught a total of 21 classes at 40-50 students each class, meaning that we taught 840-1050 students over the course of 4 days. Each of the students were invited to an Easter program (tuesday and thursday night). On the first night approximately 120 students showed up and on the second night approximately 250 students showed up. Currently my voice is a little raspy because I was the loudspeaker for both of these nights. The first night we were able to play some games in groups of 12, however the room was completely full on Tuesday, so on thursday we were forced (happily so) to improvise. However; both nights some students were able to paint easter eggs, all students attempted to find 24 resurrection eggs hidden somewhere in the small room and both nights were performed the resurrection story through a narrative skit, we also ended the night with the song "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" (which none of the young students knew; thanks to my dad I knew it).
If you have any further questions about this trip please e-mail or leave a comment. I would love to tell you more about this awesome time and let you know how you can help Noelle and i continue to do the Lord's work in Asia.
IN Him,
Sam
I just returned from Kunming, China, a city of 6 million people located at 6,000 ft above sea level and maintaining a climate similar (at least for the week I was in China) to Arequipa (at least for the 6 weeks I was in Peru). There were many times that i walked down the street thinking to myself, man some of these Chinese sure look like some of the indigenous Incas of the Andes mountains (maybe this land bridge idea is legit).
While in China, my group (8 students, 7 adults and one 2 year old) was able to teach english at the Yunnan University of Finance and Economics. We were scheduled to teach 6 classes a day for 4 days, but on the first day a mix up in the schedule only permitted us teaching 3 classes. We split into three groups, and each group presented 2 classes each day, except for monday when we each only taught 1 class. The classes were Volleyball, Bhangra (Indian Punjabi dancing) and Whist (a popular and fairly easy card game). Each class had anywhere from 40-50 students in it, which means we taught a total of 21 classes at 40-50 students each class, meaning that we taught 840-1050 students over the course of 4 days. Each of the students were invited to an Easter program (tuesday and thursday night). On the first night approximately 120 students showed up and on the second night approximately 250 students showed up. Currently my voice is a little raspy because I was the loudspeaker for both of these nights. The first night we were able to play some games in groups of 12, however the room was completely full on Tuesday, so on thursday we were forced (happily so) to improvise. However; both nights some students were able to paint easter eggs, all students attempted to find 24 resurrection eggs hidden somewhere in the small room and both nights were performed the resurrection story through a narrative skit, we also ended the night with the song "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" (which none of the young students knew; thanks to my dad I knew it).
If you have any further questions about this trip please e-mail or leave a comment. I would love to tell you more about this awesome time and let you know how you can help Noelle and i continue to do the Lord's work in Asia.
IN Him,
Sam
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